Shingeki no Kyojin Characters' Backstories Shorts
by CJ - 47
Summary: Few takes on some of the characters' backstories, lives and other stuff. Full of feels and musical inspiration.
1. I: The Team

**A/N:** I'm really sorry if it sucks, I do most of my typing in the dead of the night... BTW, this story is centered on Squad Levi, and is inspired by the song "Hero" by the awesome Nickelback. I believe there's feels but I don't really think it'd do much.

Please read and leave comments for better upcoming chapters.

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><p>Everything was lonely in my office, nothing moved, nothing could be heard other than the light scratching of the quill I held in my left hand as it scribbled words across the parchment. The room became a lot more dreary by the minute, the crickets' chirps slowly drowning the silence pushing into my ears. But then I heard a noise that didn't belong that came from the door.<p>

"Come in," startled, I looked up from my work. The door opened to reveal Eren, who closed the door behind him and walked up to my desk with a prompt salute.  
>"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Corporal, sir," he said. "Erwin-dancho asked me here to collect your paperwork. It's due today."<br>I sighed, returning the quill I held in my hand to its rightful place beside the nameplate, pocketing the small piece of parchment, seeing the boy from the corner of my eye stand surprisingly still a meter away from my desk. I pulled from inside a drawer a small stack of paper I had signed earlier, and hand it over to him. "Thank him for me, will you?"  
>"Yes, sir." Eren saluted then strolled off towards the door, turned its handle until it clicked and opened it.<br>"Say, Eren... what day is it today?" The boy turned around. He raised an eyebrow, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds.  
>"It's... Wednesday, the 23rd," he said quietly, and I replied with a nod.<br>"I see. You may leave now." He nodded back and soon disappeared at the sound of the door closing. I walked up into the nearest window, opened it and looking out into the golden-tinged landscape below. "The 23rd, huh? How long has it already been?"  
>I took out the parchment from my hip pocket, flipping it open once again. I stared at the words written on it. Closing my eyes as the wind passed by, I replaced the parchment into its place in my pocket then stepped up to the rack just beside the desk where my uniform hung. While putting it on, I opened the door and went straight down the hallway leading out into the main door. My thoughts suddenly swarmed with the memories I had always kept at the back of my mind. Memories I always hid, yet cherished so like priceless treasures.<p>

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><p><em>It was on a beautiful, cloudless day - a rare kind of day to come for a person like him. He walked along the practice section at the Trost Training Area, behind his friend, colleague and superior, Erwin. He had been given that day the privilege of creating a squad of his own, and choose its members from amongst the cadets of the 101st Trainee Corps.<em>  
><em>They came upon the area where the cadets practiced using the 3-Dimensional Maneuver Gear - the generic equipment issued by the military for use in encounters with the Titans - and the standard-issue dual blades against Titan dummies, as his watchful pair of onyx eyes scanned each person that flew past where he stood. They had set themselves upon a few of them, carefully studying the cadets' faces and remembering them with little effort.<em>  
><em>"Have you seen some interesting people yet?" his tall, blonde companion's voice suddenly boomed from out of the blue, jerking him off from his sharp concentration. He just nodded.<em>  
><em>"I guess I do," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest and hovering his eyes back to the cadets in front of him. "They're actually pretty good for trainees..."<em>  
><em>"I see," Erwin said as he put his arms behind his back. "Then I will inform the instructors to have them assembled at the main grounds."<em>  
><em>"Tch. Whatever," he muttered, earning a small sigh from his friend. Erwin turned around as another person came to hand him the reins on his horse, quckly mounting the animal.<em>  
><em>"Alright... I'll be leaving you for now," he pulled on the reins tied on the animal and away he trotted with it back into the Training Area's main grounds, leaving the other man behind.<em>  
><em>Later that day, the instructors ordered the cadets to retreat into the main grounds to meet with the visitors.<em>  
><em>"I congratulate all of you who have stayed," Erwin announced, as he stood at the center of the stage of the Trost Training Area's main grounds. In front of him were eighteen cadets standing in a neat formation, flanked by their three instructors and surrounded by other members of the Survey Corps. They were the only those left after he inquired them of their willingness to join the Survey Corps. "You who have brave hearts to choose to become part of Humanity's conquest of the Titans."<em>  
><em>There he stood beside his other colleagues at the side of the stage, his steely eyes constantly observing his cadets of interest. He had been waiting for this the whole day. "I congratulate and welcome you all into the Survey Corps. Being the only those with courage enough to pledge to offer their lives for our noble cause attributed to mankind, you are given today the chance to become a part of our best team," Erwin glanced at the man standing at the side of the stage, and back into the waiting cadets. He cleared his throat and continued. "Only four cadets will be inducted into the team, and they are those that the squad leader himself has selected. Good luck." After giving the cadets a quick salute, he turned around to his men standing at the side.<em>  
><em>"Please do the honors, Corporal," upon his superior's signal, the Corporal sighed, let his hands fall to his sides and without a word, strode off towards the cadets.<em>

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><p>I arrived at the military memorial on a chauffeured carriage, wearing my uniform, and holding a piece of parchment and a bouquet in my hands. Outside the place I stood still for a while, breathing out slowly. Then, after running a hand through my hair, I took a deep breath and strolled into the memorial.<br>I stopped at a certain mausoleum, one housing a white marble pillar encrusted with the symbol of the Survey Corps and engraved with the names of four people.  
>"I'm here, everyone," I called out into the empty room, closing the steel gate as quietly as I could, stepping in as I pulled out the bouquet from behind my back. I walked slowly towards the pillar, kneeling in front of it and offering the flowers. "I'm sorry for almost forgetting."<br>"It has been six years...," I sat down in front of the monument, flicking a lighter to life. I lifted a small candle into its flame and once lighted, I set it down beside the bouquet. "Its... just... Gazing at the each of the names carved into it, I lifted one hand onto the pillar, feeling its cold exterior. I shuddered slightly at the sensation of chilly stone, as my hand slowly and silently slipped down back into my side. Looking down to the clean, tiled floor, I fished the parchment from my pocket. "You know, after all those years... I still remember that day... when we first met..."  
>My eyes stung and my face started to feel warm. I felt my shoulders becoming heavy and my chest beginning to compress. My hands shook and fiddled with the parchment it held between. "I admit now... I truly am happy to have been with you since that day..."<br>I tried to smile as the memory replaying in my head, shakily placing the paper down by the pillar, but I just can't seem to do it. My heart felt heavy like my face that had suddenly fallen down into my palms.

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><p><em>She tensed up, holding her head and body still the moment he heard the man's boots grind hard against the dirt. His footsteps were coming nearer and nearer, and she visibly shook as she heard him approach the line where she stood.<em>  
><em>'By Maria's sake, this is the person everyone has been talking about,' the girl thought as she saw him in the corner of her hazel eyes. 'They say he is Humanity's Strongest Soldier...'<em>  
><em>Suddenly she was snapped out of her thoughts the moment she met with the man's grey eyes. The girl's eyes were wide as sauceplates. She was shell-shocked so much that she felt as though her soul just left her body.<em>  
><em>"You," his voice was a calm monotone, yet it hinted strongly of authority as he spoke to the ginger-haired girl in front of him. "What's your name?"<em>  
><em>"R-Ral... Petra Ral, sir!" The girl stuttered, but tried her best to retain her composure. She quivered slightly as she lifted her right fist over her heart. But then the man shifted his sight towards the people next to her for a moment then faced her again in a brief staring contest. "I see."<em>  
><em>Petra blinked, watching silently as he left for the next row of cadets behind them.<em>  
><em>He paced slowly through, then stopped to face this certain tall blonde cadet, looking up and crossing his arms behind his back. "And you are?"<em>  
><em>"Eld Jinn, sir!" He said with a quick salute, his arms falling to his sides. The officer's grey orbs stared at his teal ones then suddenly turned away. He had begun to move on to the next line.<em>  
><em>"You there," a nervous-looking cadet suddenly straightened himself at the sound of the Corporal's voice, while the one to his left stayed unfazed, but clearly shocked to see him pointing at the two of them. "Who are you?"<em>  
><em>"A-Auruo... Bossard, sir!"<em>  
><em>"Gunter Schultz, at your service, sir!"<em>  
><em>They were responded with a short nod, though soon after, he had turned, leaving the two men confused. The black-haired officer headed off to the front of the four lines of cadets. He crossed his arms and spoke in a very dry voice as he stared at the four people he had spoken with.<em>  
><em>"Step forward... all of you..." At the command, four immediately responded, leaving their places to stand at the front of the whole platoon, just below the stage. The Corporal then backed himself up the stage beside the commander, who cleared his throat and announced.<em>  
><em>"Congratulations, cadets and welcome to the Special Operations Squad."<em>  
><em>They never expected that day to be chosen to become part of such and to face the man they always idolized and dreamed to see, though not in the way they wanted it to happen. Yet, it was a moment they never need to forget, for it was the very day they became light in a man's dark life, the day hope sprang in his heart again.<em>

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><p>I felt a searing heat pierce my cheeks. My tears had fallen from the pool they made in my eyes into my hands. "B-but now... I... I just- I just don't know what I'd do without you..."<br>Then there was I weeping as I knelt down before the marble pillar at the center of a dreary, dark mausoleum. Floods of tears washed into my eyes, a heavy weight was borne on my shoulder. The candles flickered when the wind blew and their lights slightly illuminated the bleak place when it passed. "You were the only ones to ever accept me... after my old friends... you made me all that I could never be..."  
>"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't save you...," I whispered through a cracking voice. "I know... no matter how much I apologize, you will never forgive me... I did this to you... It's my fault that you were lost... Eren blames himself for that, but I know its me who should be blaming himself... and I don't even think I still deserve to live after I did this..."<br>And it was then that I felt a hand on my shoulder. I gasped, lifting my face from my hands. Then I heard his voice.  
>"Heichou...," I turned around to meet his ocean-blue eyes, which were quite wet, a small pool of tears welling at its sides. I spun around, throwing my arms over his shoulders.<br>"Eren...," I whispered, burying my wet face into the crook of his neck. "Eren, I'm so sorry... Please forgive me..."  
>He knelt down and wrapped his arms around me. "I-its alright, Heichou... I've already forgiven you... and all of them would have probably did so, too..."<br>"Besides, what would they have died for if you followed them?"  
>Hearing Erwin's voice, I raised my head and saw him right behind Eren, while Hanji stood by carrying a bouquet in her arms. "You've been a good leader for those guys... They would be so proud of you, you know..."<br>"Heichou, everything is alright now...," Eren pulled me away, wiping my face with the sleeve of his shirt, and looking straight into my eyes. "It's alright, now, okay...? We're still here... no, we'll always be here... for you..."  
>I nodded with my head down, as the boy took me in another embrace, then we stood up with the two others. Erwin and Hanji then took turns to give me a hug and we all turned towards the pillar. "May the Gods watch over you," Erwin said as they offered the flowers and together we clenched our fists over our hearts in a salute. "Rest in peace..."<br>And we all walked out of the memorial, side by side with arms over each other's shoulders, carrying with us the lost hopes and dreams of our comrades. I thought of them as strode out, feeling my heart was being filled once again. I am not alone after all, even after their untimely demise, knowing there would always be people right behind me. But now I know, that the ones I lost before are not the only people who cared about me. Now I know, that my heart will never stay broken ever again, for now I have friends to fill the gaping hole in it. And though I might never show it, I will forever be more than grateful for anything they do for me.

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><p><em>The mausoleum stayed silent, illuminated by the dim flames of the two candles standing by, and where a piece of parchment lay opened by the breeze that blew as two birds perched atop the marble monument.<em>  
><em>In it was written in beautiful cursive just before the end were the words:<em>

_"I am no Humanity's Strongest Soldier, for I have done a great mistake: I have failed you, and cost you your lives. I am not what you think I am, for I am weak, I am a fool who throws away the lives of the ones he always cherished._  
><em>I have lost you, and along with it, lost a piece of my soul once again. I consider myself deserving not to live longer now that you have gone. You, who have become home to a sinner seeking for a non-existent redemption in a cruel world. You, who saw him to be what he never was in the first place and accepted him, believed in him...<em>  
><em>You may probably never forgive me for what I have done to you, but I will accept it. I understand I do not deserve such as well.<em>  
><em>But know this: I will never forget you, and until then I promise, to live and fight to honor your deaths until I draw my last breath, to never let my comrades die for nothing ever again, and to return here to you victorious.<em>

_Thank you for everything. I pray the Wings of Freedom will fly you to your peaceful, eternal rest."_

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><p><strong>TO THE FALLEN WARRIORS OF HUMANITY'S BEST SQUAD. WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU.<strong>


	2. II: The One

**A/N:** This one is conceived and written while listening to Westlife's "Soledad" and Passenger's "Let Her Go". Also has a little hint of the Levi x Petra. Feels ahead, but not guaranteed to break your heart.

Then again, please read and review!

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><p><em>I loved you. I always have. Its a shame you never got to know.<em>

_Your face, your smile, your voice... most of you still linger in my mind. You seem to be the only one I consider a treasure more priceless than anything else in the world. You are the one._

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><p>Bright hazel eyes, ginger hair, fair complexion, and average height. She was one rare beauty in this immense mundane battlefield, a precious stone under a pile of rocks. She stood beside four men in front of another on the grassy courtyard of an old castle, discussing battle strategies written across a piece of parchment hung on a crude wooden frame.<p>

Most would say that a woman beautiful as her does not belong on the battlefield, yet she was a true prodigy in the art they practiced. She was not as frail as looked like. She had survived three grueling years of harsh training in her early teens, away from her family and in the company of people she had never known before, and lived for another three fighting the gigantic enemies of humanity beyond the confines of the Walls alongside the bravest of people. She had been inducted into a team of elites working under the command of the greatest soldier of Humanity.

She was the one. The one woman who had managed to serve as a torchlight in the dim path of life slowly being trudged by a bitter man.

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><p><em>You lit up my life, gave me hope, made me see I exist in the world. I considered everything you are as my salvation, my redemption. Everything you did for me eased the burden I carry even little by little. You were an angel sent down to a sinner walking aimlessly in the world.<em>

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><p>She was a namesake of a goddess, whom without the world would not be. They truly were the same, for the others would be distraught in her absence. She was a starry-eyed girl, wise, caring and compassionate, which was reason enough that her comrades respect her so, and regard her as an angel sent by the Heavenly Creator himself to them.<p>

Though not as strong in body as her companions, she was more than them in the aspects of morality and her wisdom exceeded them all. She sheltered them, made them feel love alike to a mother hen taking her children under her wings when it rained. They would be lost without her.

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><p><em>I cherished you like I did my old friends, who had been my family. I loved you more than anything, you were the only one occupying my lonesome heart. I felt I had been reborn on the day I saw you. But I had been a fool to let you slip away devoid of knowledge of my feelings toward you.<em>

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><p>From the corner of his eyes he saw the girl pass by quickly through the trees, riding the wind on her 3-D Maneuver Gear, carrying in her hands two sharp blades. He spun around to give himself another glimpse at her and was rewarded with the sight of her graceful swoop over the figurine of a Titan, slashing open the makeshift "napes" they possessed in one swift motion.<p>

He stood motionlessly by the edge of the training ground, his arms crossed over his chest, gazing beyond towards where the girl was as she convened with a few of her friends, when suddenly he heard his colleague speak, inquiring him of his progress in scouting for potential members of his own elite troop, which he had replied to affirmatively.

Later on that day he had the chance to select the four people he had seen in action at the training grounds, including that certain girl he had been staring at.

Ever since that day he always remembered hearing her say her name in a voice that seemed to calm his nerves the moment he stepped up in front of her, so much so that he felt a little spark in his head, and his heart skip a beat.

It was a sign of true love he had tried so to disregard, seeing it as unimportant in this state he had himself in, only to realize it at the worst possible time - when Death himself had claimed her.

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><p><em>I didn't have the courage enough to tell such to you. I'm sorry I failed you on the moment you needed me the most, and that I could not save you... Now I feel I am no longer deserving to live that I have failed your trust in me. I understand clearly that you might never wish to forgive a sinner such as myself after what I had done to all of you, but at least know this: I love you, Petra.<em>

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><p>She was gone, along with the rest of her faithful companions, and now that they were, he himself was lost, found himself drowned in despair, and his heart once again was torn open. Only her memories now remain in his shattered heart.<p>

He had felt despair like this before, after losing the people he considered his only family, but now it was different. It was painful. So painful he felt like taking his life to repay their deaths.

But he would not, he decided he wouldn't, for he had finally realized that he still had so many like them, there to fill the gaps left in him, there to tread along with him in the path trudges on as his beacon of hope. There to save him from the darkness.

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><p><em>Ever since the day I met you, I knew we were meant for each other. I'm sorry I never could say nor show it to you. I would give my life away if it could only be the same, but if I did, I would have wasted your legacy.<em>

_But now I have seen you all still live within our souls, and until then, I promise you one thing: that someday we will all return alive and honor you with Humanity's glorious victory._

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><p><strong>IN LOVING MEMORY OF PETRA RAL. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE THE ONE IN OUR HEARTS.<strong>


	3. III: The Wings

**A/N:** Story is just an idea I got after reading the graphic novel "Choice With No Regrets", is heavily inspired by a certain art featuring Humanity's Greatest Soldier as a child, and is written under the influence of music: Staind's "Something to Remind You" and Nickelback's "Hero" (which I attribute to our beloved Heichou). There's also a feel alert.

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><p>There was a knock on my door. Thrice.<p>

"Heichou, I'm really sorry for interrupting," said the voice beyond the wooden partition. I easily recognized his voice. "I brought your tea... Erwin-dancho told me to deliver it here."

"Come in," the door swung open as a brown-haired boy carrying a tray filled with a cup and a small kettle came inside. He headed straight for the small table that stood at the right side of my office next to a wide window and set it there. "Thank you for bringing the tea, Eren."

"No problem, sir," he answered, flipping the porcelain cup and placing it on the coaster. "I was just doing my job."

I stopped, setting my quill on the case next to the nameplate on the table and then sliding the papers into the drawers. After clearing my table, I straightened up on the chair, watching intently as he carefully wiped the inside of the cup with tissue.

"Anyway, I think I should be going now, sir," he said as soon as he finished, standing up slowly as he dusted himself then heading off for the door.

"You can stay," he stopped, his hand on the doorknob, looking back at me with a perplexed look on his face. "At least to keep me company for a while..."

"Y-yes, I think I could...," he let go of the doorknob as I walked over to a nearby cupboard and grabbed a small white teacup.

"Come, sit," I then sat, pouring myself a cup while Eren walked slowly toward me, slumping down on the chair next to mine. I then poured the tea into the other cup, offering it to him, which he immediately accepted.

"Thank you," he nodded as he sat there with the drink in his hands, staring at it then on to the view outside.

I turned towards the window, curious as to what he may be looking at. "You see anything interesting outside?"

"Uh, yes," he seemed to be jolted out of his daydream by my voice. He sipped a little of the tea and veered his vision to the window. "The birds..."

"I see... They are indeed beautiful...," it had taken me a few seconds to focus on this flock of birds flying into the sunset. I sipped on my tea thereafter. "I wonder where they fly off to...?"

Eren's turquoise eyes stayed trained on the birds. "I… don't know...," my eyes widened at hearing the boy's quiet answer I stopped, almost dropping the cup in my hands. I never really expected him to answer that and I looked down onto the floor. "Maybe… to somewhere better than here…"

"Oh, Farlan... Isabelle...," I mumbled but he heard nevertheless, turning his eyes to me.

"Uh… Um… Is everything alright, Heichou?"

"Yes. Y-you see... I-it's just that you...," I stammered, replacing the cup on the tray. "You remind me of some people… and something..."

"Oh," he said as he put his cup back on the tray. "I see..."

"They were very... nice people, you know," I looked up, away from him, heaving a big sigh. "It's a shame they had to die so early..." Eren did not respond to this and instead stayed still, his hands on his knees as I spoke. He bit his lip, staring down into the floor.

"I suppose you have the right to know... After all," he looked up to me. I shifted my eyes straight into his. "You just reminded me of the best moment I've had in my whole life."

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><p><em>"Thief! Thief!"<em>

_A big fat man yelled out as a small boy took off with his merchandise. Two men from the Military Police ran after the child but lost him in a while. When they returned the merchant was so furious at them he started to curse the two men._

_Meanwhile, a little boy who may have aged not far from nine, stopped to hide in an alleyway. He had short jet black hair and eyes, had a scrawny body and wore a brown shirt paired with green pants. He walked barefooted and had so many bruises on his pale face and arms. And in them he carried a cage where two doves were._

_One of the doves had pure white feathers while the other had unusual black ones. He sat and stared at them, especially on the black-feathered one._

_"Hey there, birdies," the little boy whispered. The two doves seemed to hear him and cocked their heads toward him. Their beady little eyes seemed not to break their stare on him. The boy's eyes lit up as he saw them do this, making him crack a smile. "You guys aren't supposed to be sitting here like this... You should be free, you know..."_

_"Hey," he turned around to see another boy having very light blonde hair its almost white coming toward him in a half-run. He also seems to be of the same age as him. "What are you doing there?"_

_"Look, Farlan," he presented the cage to his friend who easily noticed the animals inside._

_"Oh, a cage with doves? Where did you get them?" Farlan looked at the two birds inside, tapping the cage's grills lightly with a finger. "And what do you want to do with them?"_

_"I saw other birds flying up the wall the other day," he pointed at the distant view of the wall, his hand imitating the motion of the birds flying across it. "And I saw them at the market yesterday. You know all birds are supposed to be up there, right?"_

_"Yeah, and just look at them, they're so sad in here…," Farlan answered then suddenly his face lit up. "I know! We'll go to the monastery tower and set them free from there."_

_"That's great! But let's show it to Isabelle first!"_

_With that the two boys immediately ran towards the end of the alleyway to a small place in the corner where the ground was covered in a quilt and where a five-year old red-haired girl sat._

_"Isabelle! Isabelle!" She heard the two boys call from afar, making her look up. The two abruptly stopped a foot away and simultaneously said, "Look what we have!"_

_She peered into the cage. "Oh, doves! Are we keeping them?" She had asked the boys who sat down beside her. They smiled at her and pointed at the scene above them as a small flock of birds passed by._

_"I wish we could but look," the three gathered around the little cage as Farlan pointed at its contents. The birds inside tilted their heads at the sight of them. "Birds are meant to fly free! Not caged here like this..."_

_"Oh, you're right," Isabelle leaned in closer to the cage. She whispered to them in a sweet voice. "Don't worry birdies, you'll be free soon..."_

_"Come on let's go!" Picking up the cage into his thin arms the other black- haired boy called on to his friends who both excitedly stood up and ran to his side._

_They all walked together through the streets in the next twenty minutes and upon reaching the monastery, stopping by its front, and looking at its beautiful and pristine design: it had three towers, one atop the front, and two on either side of the building; each bore the crest of the walls Maria, Rose and Sina on their exteriors. Farlan soon pointed at the one on the middle. "Over there! Let's climb up over that one!"_

_The three children proceeded to enter the monastery. They walked down towards the leftmost steel staircase, happily watching the beautiful birds through the cage's bars. As soon as they had reached the end, they entered a small wooden door. They were at the top of the tower. Farlan climbed up over a wooden ladder to open a smaller door and went up to the brick roof._

_"Wow! Come on guys, you've got to see this!" Farlan looked back at the two under the hatch to the roof. The two other children hurriedly climbed up the ladder to join him. They stood stock still as they stepped out._

_"It's so beautiful," Isabelle smiled, her hazel eyes twinkling in amazement._

_"Whoa…," the other boy's eyes did not blink for a while as he slowly took in the remarkable sight, the cage held close to his chest. _

_They had stepped out to the grand vista of the city of Stohess down below, made more astounding by the cinematic sunset light that bathed it a bright gold. The cobbled city streets were filled with people passing by, and the lights in the houses looked like dancing fireflies. The three children sat side by side with the cage, deciding they should stay; it was only a few times when they could ever get out freely and see the sights after all._

_"Hey, where do you think the birds fly off to?" Farlan turned his head towards his smaller friend, raising an eyebrow, seeing that his eyes were fixated at the passing of a flock of birds over the wall and into the distant sunset. Farlan joined him in his watch._

_"I… don't know…," he quietly answered. "Maybe… to somewhere better than here…?"_

_The little boy turned his head to the other and smiled. He looked at the doves inside the cage. Stretching out one slim limb, he reached out for the cage and held it close to his chest. "Yeah, I think you're right…"_

_"Shouldn't we set them free now?" Isabelle had spoken up. "It's almost night time…"_

_"Oh, yeah, right," he set the cage down on the brick shingles of the roof and fiddled with the little door it had. He opened it with ease and reached for the one with dark plumage. Taking it out of its narrow confinement of a cage, he pulled Farlan's hand and put the bird into his open palm. "Here Farlan, take this one…"_

_He then took the other one and did the same to Isabelle, who was pleased to hold a bird in her hands for the first time; she actually kissed its little head. "It's so cute… and fluffy…"_

_"Hey, guys," the boy pulled them close, his arms on their shoulders. "Don't doves come back from where they were set free?"_

_"What's that got to do with this?" _

_"Oh, it's just that… I thought… if we were ever separated, you know… we'd have to come back and find each other…" Farlan laughed aloud and Isabelle giggled._

_"Don't be like that," he held the bird in one hand and embraced his friend. "We promised we won't be separated, right? Besides, we're practically brothers." Isabelle nodded in response with a big, bright smile. The boy returned the grin silently._

_"I guess you're right," he looked at the scene beyond. The sky had begun to darken, grey streaks of cirrus clouds scattered on it as the stars had begun to appear and the sun's last rays of light steeping into the blue-black of the night. "It's getting dark. We should let them go now."_

_"Alright," Farlan gave him and Isabelle a nod. "On my count: one, two, THREE!"_

_Together he and Isabelle threw their hands up and let the birds go. The doves immediately opened their wings and set off into the heights of the sky._

_"Goodbye!" Isabelle waved as they watched the two birds fly side by side; her two brothers' arms around her small shoulders. The three cheered as the birds crossed over the wall, hugging each other. The wind blew past them as a banner bearing the crest with a pair wings was flown at the wall's front gate._

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><p>"So… where are they now, Heichou?"<p>

"They're gone, Eren," I finished the story and slumped down, my hands falling to my knees. I noticed him tense up the moment he heard it.

"Gosh, I-I'm sorry for asking," Eren stared back down on the floor, his bright eyes starting to tear up. "I didn't mean to say something like that…"

"Oh, don't worry about that, kid," I said, sitting closer to him and draping one of my arms on his shoulder. "I know they're just around… someplace better than here…"

Eren nodded slowly, pursing his lips. I took my arm down, sitting up. He stated to wipe the pool of tears from his eyes then his smile was back on again.

"Now, would you be kind as to bring this back to the mess hall?" I stood up from the chair, pointing at the tray on the table. I strolled off to my table. "See, I still have a lot of work to do."

"Yes, certainly... sir," he said as he automatically stood up and retrieved the materials on the floor. He walked up to the door and turned the knob. I stayed still, my back to him, until I heard the door creak.

"Eren," I called out to him. He stopped and poked his head from outside, answering me with a quiet "Yes?" I turned around from my position at the side of my table, breathed out and faced him again. "Please… take care of your… friends. For me…" Eren's mouth hung open slightly and he blinked.

"Oh… um… Y-yessir!" He straightened up to give me a salute while holding the tray in one hand, then after doing so started on his way to the direction of the mess hall, closing the door behind him.

When he was gone, I ran up a hand through my hair as I stared into the sunset outside the window. I walked towards it and opened it wide, letting the fresh early evening breeze blow past my sore body. I inhaled the scent of the pine trees it carried whilst closing my eyes. It felt so much like that moment atop the steeple of the monastery.

"Ah… How I wish you two are here...," I whispered as I stared at the slowly setting sun and suddenly I heard a noise. I spun my head towards the source of the sound back inside the room and I was stunned to see what made it. I turned to see two birds hovered around the crystal chandelier that hung at the center of the room.

One of them had beautiful, spotless white feathers while the other had very dark plumes. I felt my mouth hang open as I looked up at them, walking slowly like I had been paralyzed. They flew around some more, until finally they glided toward me, stopping short of my nose and cocked their little heads to the side, their eyes staring into mine.

"Y-you… came back," tears started to seep into my eyes yet I smiled in happiness that filled my heart, almost making it fit to burst. "You came back… for me…" I knelt down on the floor, wiping my tears with the sleeves of my shirt. I felt their little clawed feet set themselves on my shoulders.

"You guys…," I lifted up a hand to stroke their heads. The doves seemed to enjoy the sensation and cooed into my ears, even going far as rubbing their foreheads into my hand. "Thank you so much… for watching over us…"

* * *

><p><em>Somewhere outside the Survey Corps' Special Operations Squad castle headquarters Eren assembled under a tree with the rest of the squad: Gunter, Petra, Eld and Auruo along with their leader's friends Mike and Hanji. They had all decided to take a break together after a hard day's work with him. They brought with them a few provisions and drinks from the kitchen, and sat in a manner alike to scouts around a campfire.<em>

_Eren was sitting at the edge of the circle, having a perfect view of the castle's side. He slowly ate a piece of buttered bread, gazing at the castle rooftop seeing a familiar figure walking there. He pointed at it._

_"Hey guys," everyone turned and noticed where his finger was directed. "Isn't that Heichou over there?"_

_"Yeah it is him," Petra said, setting a basket down on the grass. "I wonder what he's doing up there…?"_

_"He's probably just taking a walk around... you know him, always cooped up in that office of his…," Eld continued, in between eating bread._

_"I think so, too," Auruo agreed. "Taking a breather like that doesn't really hurt…"_

_"I dunno about that… You know the guy's a clean freak," Gunter mused, drinking ale from his mug. "I figure he'll be cleaning the castle from that point until he gets to the basement."_

_Eren heard the three men laugh and had noticed that Hanji and Mike both stayed quiet, standing stock still right there beside the tree, both attentively watches the man at the castle's roof. He was going to ask them what the matter was, but instead along with the others fixed his eyes back to whatever their leader had been doing._

_They all watched in silence as he walked up to the edge of the castle walls and spread out his arms, seeing two small figures swoop up into the cosmos, and as they did so, they had simultaneously said "birds", looking at each other in both amusement and amazement._

_It was then that Eren swore he had heard both Hanji and Mike chuckle lightly, seeing them exchange glances and small smiles. And then Mike spoke up, leaving everyone quite stunned and speechless, for he never talked much._

_"And that my dear friends that you just saw…," Mike's eyes gleamed while saying these words in a dignified voice. "...Are the true Wings of Freedom."_

_With that, Mike and Hanji straightened up and put their fists over their hearts in a salute. The others were dumbfounded to see them do such._

_But then the boy looked around to see the faces of his teammates light up slowly with inspired smiles, looking up at their proud superior above the battlements. Altogether they stood up in a straight line facing the castle, heads held high to the infinite sky and saluted, their eyes trained towards the pair of doves circling this part of the forest they stood in. Eren soon followed suit, his ocean eyes burning with fresh sparked inspiration._

_And as they resumed their get-together, Eren saw from the very corner of his eyes, the World's Strongest Soldier, his beloved Heichou, with his chest puffed out proudly, do the official military salute, on such a rare occasion - his right fist over his heart as he watched the doves ride the winds into the sun slowly disappearing into the horizon._

_At the castle rooftop, he held his salute as the two birds glided into the sunset light, and under his breath he said, "Farlan… Isabelle… Watch over us…"_

* * *

><p><strong>IN HONOR OF FARLAN CHURCH AND ISABELLE MAGNOLIA. BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE.<strong>


	4. IV: The Pledge

**A/N:** All hail the Scouting Legion/Survey Corps! The team takes center stage once again along with an eerily fitting soundtrack from the movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" called "Song of the Lonely Mountain" by Neil Finn.

This is the last Scouting Legion/Survey Corps themed fic. Thanks for reads! I'll be back for more, and this time it will be the 104th Trainees' Squad on center stage.

* * *

><p>"We are bold, proud and strong,<br>We are Humanity's hope and salvation,  
>We are the men of the Scouting Legion!<p>

We bear on our backs our people's wings,  
>Made of feathers of steely pride and will,<br>We shall let it spread once more into the winds!

Maria, Rose, Sina, our Walls; protectors,  
>Watch over our souls,<br>As we ride through the storms.

We shall not fail, we will be free,  
>For we, thine children pledge you this:<br>We shall rise again with new glory!

With fists o'er our hearts,  
>We swear to thee:<br>We offer our lives for Humanity!"

* * *

><p><em>Far over the Misty Mountains rise<em>

_Leave us standing upon the height _

_What was before, we see once more _

_Is our kingdom, a distant light_

_Fiery mountain beneath the moon _

_The words aren't spoken, we'll be there soon _

_For home a song that echoes on _

_And all who find us will know the tune_

_Some folk we never forget _

_Some kind we never forgive _

_Haven't seen the back of us yet _

_We'll fight as long as we live_

* * *

><p>For one hundred years had our people kept hidden underneath the shadows of the Walls, said to have been built to keep us away from our deadly sworn enemies, yet we have seen none of them for the whole century. We lived safe, we lived in peace, but like birds we felt we were caged, for we no longer saw yonder them. We have been told of lands we know not that lie beyond the Walls - the fields of sand, the burning water, fields of snow, and the vast ocean.<p>

Some of us had dreamed of crossing through the borders and marvel at these wonders, but had declined to leave, believing that there will only be the Titans, our most feared enemy, and so we have been left to hide away behind the Walls' heights. We lived without fear of them within them, but we do not know how long it will protect us.

And now, the days we Humans always feared has finally come. They have returned, and they have broken through our barricades, encroached upon our homes, robbed us of our lives, denied us of our hopes and dreams. Everything had been changed on their arrival. Our glory had left us, and we had become less than mere livestock left to die in their hands.

The tranquility of our lives had been swept away into the winds with the blood of our people, reduced to no more than a figment of imagination, an illusion upon their coming. On their passage, we had succumbed to our nightmares, we have cowered, bowed lower down in defeat to our greatest fear. Gone are the days we had lived safely within, along with our freedom to live.

But with broken wings we still tried to take into the winds, weilding what we little we have left of our pride and glory in blades that cut them down, with hearts that burned with the desire to finally break free of the hell we had been plunged into, and on our shoulders the last spark of our people's hope.

* * *

><p><em>All lies on the hidden door <em>

_To the Lonely Mountain bourne _

_We'll ride in the gathering storm _

_Until we get our long forgotten gold_

_We lay under the Misty Mountains cold _

_In slumbers deep, and dreams of gold _

_We must awake, our lives to make _

_And in the darkness a torch we hold_

_From long ago when lanterns burned _

_Until this day our hearts have yearned _

_A fate unknown; the Arkenstone _

_What was stolen must be returned_

* * *

><p>Our home waits silently in ruins, with the long-forgotten key to our survival underneath the rubble, for our return. Its door stays sealed shut, but we have what needs for it to open, lying in the hands of one we consider our hope. Shiganshina lays broken as we advance towards it, and we shall not halt until we reach it.<p>

We tread the roads leading to it little by little, encountering misfortune in the form of these monstrosities, losing men left and right along the way. We see Death try to hinder us, but we fear not, for we have a light to guide us through, our hero and beacon of hope: he who was gifted with strength exceeding those of our foes, he who is the visage of Humanity's will to fight and survive.

In his eyes we saw the desire of Humanity to escape into the world beyond these giant cages. In his heart we saw flames burn with the true determination to fight for this dream, no matter how it may seem impossible. We have seen the these, we believed, and now stand beside him as his brothers-in-arms as we advance towards our foes in a bloody conflict from where we may never return. But we are not afraid, we were forged in fire to never break in fear. We are no longer the prey. We are now the hunters, in cold-blood we will partake our revenge on them, like the Gods of old we shall defeat them and subject them into the voids for the rest of eternity.

* * *

><p><em>We must away, and make the day <em>

_To find our song, for heart and soul_

* * *

><p>Pull out your swords from their sheaths, rise up my brothers, and come with us into our ride to battle for liberation. Stand with us until we draw our last breaths. We need no longer remain the weak, useless people we were before. We were not born into this world to stay their prey. It is now time for us to take our place in it. It now time to open our eyes, spread our wings, stand up and bear arms against those that deny us what we had always rightfully possessed even if it meant our own demise.<p>

We have pledged our lives for our people, we shall never break our oath. We will lead Humanity in breaking free of these giant prisons we have been kept in for millenia. We shall lead our people in reclaiming the home we lost and in the great exodus to the lands beyond.

We are no longer the ones to bow, like the highest mountains we will stand firm and tall, we will not yield and we will never fall. On the Wings we shall ride to the highest, on the clouds we will rebuild our home, and let peace for eternity reign once more.

* * *

><p><em>Some folk we never forget <em>

_Some kind we never forgive _

_Haven't seen the end of it yet _

_We'll fight as long as we live_

_All lies on the hidden door _

_To the Lonely Mountain bourne _

_We'll ride in the gathering storm _

_Till we get our long forgotten gold_

_Far away the Misty Mountains cold._

* * *

><p>Now here we stand upon the heights, our sight on the only dream we have, in the names of our people and brothers-in-arms. Onward we go with blades in our hands, our pledge in our fervent hearts, the hopes, dreams and honor of Humanity and comrades borne on our backs. We have made our most worthy sacrifices, we will not return until we take to the winds again. We will not cease until we have restored the dignity of Humanity. We will not stop fighting until we have taken back what was stolen from us, until the end or until we die. We give now our word, for the souls of those we loved and lost: we will not fail.<p>

We are the Hope. We are salvation. We are the Scouting Legion. Have faith in us.


	5. V: The Book

**A/N:** Phew. So far this is the longest I've ever typed. It's been a real headache trying to figure out what the best plot is for it. But here it is now.

This is the start of the series of short stories featuring the cadets of the 104th Trainees' Squad. I had this based on the lyrics of Hunter Hayes's "Invisible" which I found to somehow fit the character the story focuses on. Remember there's still the feel alert.

* * *

><p><em>"Grandpa," I called and he turned a pair of tired, wrinkly blue eyes to me.<em>

_"Hm? What is it, son?" My grandfather smiled from underneath his white mustache, running a gnarly hand through his balding hair. He walked up to where I was on the bench right outside our house and sat beside me._

_"Do you know what's right outside the Walls?" Grandpa, chuckled as he took off his hat and put it on my head. "You know it, right? I mean you've been there sometime before..."_

_"Now why would you ask something like that?"_

_"Eren said he wanted to go outside. I just want to know what we could find there if we ever went out..."_

_"Hm, I could tell you now, but," he said as he rubbed his chin with one hand. "It would be better if I showed you."_

_"Really?" I couldn't believe what I had heard. "But how are we supposed to get out?"_

_"Oh, I didn't mean we'd go out the Walls to see it, my boy," he stood up, offering a hand to me. "Come with me, we'll go see it."_

_I hopped off the bench and walked into the house hand in hand with him, almost running up ahead of him in excitement. We went into the house's basement where most of his and Grandma's stuff from long ago had been kept inside chests. He had rummaged for minutes through all the junk while I sat at the corner of the room watching him. He had stood up from his place sometime later, holding up in his wrinkled hands a small wood and metal chest. I stared at it in wonder as my grandfather blew off the dust from it and pull out the key to its lock from his pocket._

_"Look, child," he sat down beside me as he took off the lock from the wooden box, then opened it to reveal an unusual treasure inside. In it was a thick leather-bound book with faded script and symbols on the cover. Carefully, he fished the book from its container, and set it down on his lap. Grandpa then put the chest away and inched closer to me. "This is The Book of the World's Greatest Wonders..."_

_"Wow!" Grandpa nodded slowly and started to open its cover. I saw the old script on the first page. It was barely readable but Grandpa had translated it to me easily, probably from him having read it many times over. I listened carefully at every word he said and we spent the rest of the day in the basement reading all the wonderful contents of the old book. _

_When we finished Grandpa closed the tome, and handed it to me. I was dumbfounded. "It's yours now, my boy," Grandpa grinned, patting me on the shoulder._

_"What? But I-" I tried to shove it back to him. I wouldn't really want to take something so important from someone, even if they give it to me._

_"No, it's yours," he held the book firmly and put my hands on it. "I know you need it more than I do now."_

_"T-thank you."_

_"But just remember, son: keep the book with you always, alright?"_

_"Yes, Grandpa."_

* * *

><p>"Oh, thank goodness you're just right here," a brown-haired boy with a girl in a scarf behind him called out to a blond boy standing there beside a cannon atop the walls. "We've been looking all over for you..."<p>

The two noticed he had not blinked as he gazed out into the landscape in front of them as they stepped up to him.

"Are you okay? You don't look well," the girl quietly said, and he turned around, sighing. "Is anything the matter?"

"Don't worry, Mikasa, Eren. I'm okay," he looked at each of them with a smile, assuring them he was alright. "I was just... having a stroll around..."

"Then, come on, Commander Weilman's holding a general assembly later," Eren said. "You wouldn't want to be late, would you?"

"Oh, yes." The boy nodded and walked off ahead of the two. Noticing that they had not followed him, he stopped in his tracks. "Well? Aren't you two coming with me?"

They stayed gawking until Mikasa spoke up. "Uh, just go ahead of us... We still have to call the others over at the other side." She elbowed her brother sharply on his side.

"Ah, y-yeah, just go on without us. It's not like you to be late on something like those, anyway." Eren gave him a smile and he shrugged.

"Then I'll see you later, guys." The boy traced back his steps and off he went into the distance while his two friends remained standing there like statues.

"Hey, Eren," she called out to her brother. "Have you even noticed it?"

"What?"

"He's been too quiet today, almost as if he's brooding..."

"Yeah, it's really not like him to be like that... I wonder what's got him to be like that?"

* * *

><p><em>"Eren! Eren!" I ran up the cobblestone path towards the edge of the wharf where a friend of mine sat watching the gulls. I sat beside him on the grass patch, holding Grandpa's book in my arms. "Look what I brought!"<em>

_He spun around, crossing his legs. I set the book down on the ground happily. "Oh, it's just a book... You do know those aren't my thing, right?"_

_"No! It isn't just an ordinary book, Eren," I opened it and flipped a few pages. "Look, it says so much about the outside world!"_

_"What? Really?" Eren inched closer to me, peering into the sketches on the pages, his eyes widening and filling with wonder. "Wow, this is amazing!"_

_"Yeah, look," I pointed at the detailed sketch of a really large body of water. "Grandpa said this is called the 'ocean'. He said it's huge, and it's made of lots of salt!"_

_"Salt is treasure, you know?" He looked at the picture of the ocean again. "Imagine if we could go there! We'd get all the salt we want!"_

_"Here, take a look at this one," I pried the book from his hands, flipping a few pages more to where there was a picture of a mountain that stood over all the others. "Grandpa told me this was the tallest mountain in the world and that it's called "The Roof of the World."_

_"Whoa! Did your grandpa tell you if anyone ever tried to climb it?"_

_"Well, I think he did say there are... but only a few."_

_He grabbed the book off the ground, and turned it to me. It was on a different page where three illustrations were. "What about these? What are these?"_

_I cast my eyes into them - they were pictures of a mountain where fire spouted from its peak; a place with hill-like structures under a bright sun and; a thick forest with lots of animals we are not familiar with roaming all over it._

_"Oh, these are those Grandpa said are the different places in the world. That one is called a 'volcano', a mountain that spits out fire; the other one is a 'desert', it's a place filled with sand; and the last one is a 'tropical rainforest', there are trees and animals all over it."_

_"Desert?" I watched as Eren flipped the book around, inspecting the picture of the fields of sand. "That's an odd name for an odd place filled with sand... Shouldn't it be filled with-"_

_"No silly," I chuckled. "Its spelling is clearly different than the word 'dessert'. Their definition also differs. See it has-"_

_"Alright, that's enough, smarty-pants. I get it!"_

_"You never really want to learn even a little, don't you Eren?"_

_"You know what? Let's just go home," He stood up, and dusted his pants. "It's getting dark already..."_

_"Oh, Eren..." Eren started off on the way as I scooped up the tome from the ground and ran up to catch up to him._

* * *

><p>Eren stepped up to his door, with Mikasa by side, and knocked. "Are you still awake?"<p>

He was on his bed, staring quietly at the ceiling when he heard the knock and his best friend's voice outside. He sat up. "Y-yeah. What is it, Eren?"

"We need to talk," it was Mikasa who answered. "Is it okay? It'll just be for a while..."

"Um, yes..," he straightened his clothes as he stood up from his bed, and ahead he went to the wooden partition. He opened it for them. "Come in..."

The three then sat down beside each other on the sturdy bed: Eren was on his left and Mikasa on his right. He was looking down on the floor, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"There's something you're not telling us," Mikasa spoke up suddenly, making him look up. She was looking straight into his eyes. He veered away from her gaze. "Is there something wrong?"

"No..," he put down his head, looking down on the wooden floorboards under his feet as the girl put her arm over him.

"You've been acting really off today," Eren said. "There's clearly something wrong with you."

"Why wouldn't you tell us?"

"I don't want you guys to worry too much," he turned away from them. "Plus, we don't get enough time for ourselves and our own problems..."

"Just tell us about it."

The boy breathed in deeply as he wiped the pooling tears on the corners of his eyes. "It's been exactly six years since Grandpa died..."

"Oh..." Both his friends were shocked. They had almost forgotten about it.

"And today I lost the most important possession Grandpa has ever had.." He covered his face with his hands, muffling his crying. "He left it to me, it was the only thing I have left to remember him.."

"Then we'll find it for you," the girl patted his back reassuringly. "Maybe its just right around here, you know?"

"Yeah, right," he raised his head up, turning his head to each. "That's exactly why I don't want to tell you because I don't want to get you two worked up for nothing. Besides I lost it without remembering where it was last. I don't think you'd find it easily..."

"Don't say things like that," Eren stood up in front of him. "I told you before that what's yours is ours, and what's ours is yours, too. And on top of that, I hate to see you like this..."

"Do you believe we'll find it?" Mikasa said aloud.

"But you can't-"

"Do you trust us?"

"Y-yeah...," he was quite shaken up by the way the girl talked. There had been a lot of times he had been so scared of her. "I... always have..."

"Then, let's shake on that," Eren held out one hand and he took it reluctantly. "I promise we'll find it!"

He was taken into an embrace by his two friends, left unable to form words to properly say his thanks to them. He made sure to remember, as this adds to all the other things they have done for him, which he always believes he could never repay them for.

* * *

><p><em>There had always been those times I cowered on the ground, under attack by the fists of stronger children in our neighborhood. They hated me for believing there was something waiting for us beyond our concrete prison. They called me a heretic for having a dream to cross its borders and flogged me until I bled. It would happen everytime our paths would converge, and everytime it would be worse than the last.<em>

_And there would always be the times when my only friends would suddenly come to my rescue from out of the blue. They would give the bullies a beating equal to the pain they had inflicted on my frail body, and then they would be gone. They would always hold out their hands for me to stand back up to my feet, even if I don't really need it. They would always dust off my clothes and pick up what I had dropped and they would always walk me home._

_My friends had done so many things for me, ever since those days, and until now they still do it. I don't know however I could repay them for everything, and I don't know already if a loser like me really does deserve to have friends like them._

* * *

><p>Eren and Mikasa walked down the hallway of the barracks in the Trost Training Area, where they had trained three years before, carrying small stacks of paper in their arms. They had been given a task that afternoon by their squad leader to deliver request papers to one of the instructors working there. While on their way, they talked about their other friend who was currently at an assembly of trainee strategists at Wall Rose.<p>

"Hey, Mikasa," Eren said as he looked around the rooms in the hallway. "Where do you think he lost the book?"

"I'm not quite sure," she replied. "But I think it might be right around here..."

"How could that be possible? We've been away from here for almost a week now..." They had found their destination and together they stood up in front of the door labeled "Instructor's Office".

"That isn't really such a long time, Eren," Mikasa answered her brother as she knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," they heard a voice beyond it, easily recognizing it as their former instructor, Keith Shadis. At his approval, the girl turned the handle and pushed it open. The two was greeted by a rather different stare from the man behind the desk. "Ah, if it isn't Jaeger and Ackerman... What brings you here?"

Eren and Mikasa placed the papers on the desktop, and gave him quick salute. "Our squad leader asked us to deliver these to you, sir."

"Hm. Request documents from the Trost Defense...," Keith muttered, carefully eyeing the signature scribbled on the papers without a name. "You two are under Weilman's command, yes?"

"Yes sir."

They both nodded. Keith shoved the papers to the side of the table and opened a drawer, taking out a small envelope. "Here, take this back with you. Tell them it's for Weilman. You're free to leave."

Eren and Mikasa quickly turned about-face, heading for the door. The boy grasped the handle tight then pulled it open, making way for his sister to get out first. He was about to join her outside when he heard the man's voice behind him call.

"Wait, Jaeger!" He walked back into the room, seeing Keith rummaging through the drawers in his table silently. The man then took out a heavy object from inside, placed it on the table and pushed it forward. "I believe this is your friend's. Please return it to him."

Eren stared at it the object and took it from its place on the desk. It was wrapped in deep red cloth and bound with strings. He opened its packaging and noticed its leather cover. It was the book they had been looking for!

Meanwhile outside, Mikasa looked behind her to see that her brother had not followed, seeing from the distance the instructor's door was still open, she dashed back into it, and was surprised to see Eren holding the thick package in his hands. "Eren... I-isn't that...?"

"Yeah, it is...," the boy answered as he turned to her.

"But how- where did you-"

"I found it in the boys' dormitories the other day, Ackerman," Keith said, looking up from his work on the table. "And decided to keep it here. That is quite an important possession of his."

"It's his grandfather's book, he says..."

"Precisely. That's why I'm asking you now to please return it. Your friend must be so worried sick from losing it and... I hate keeping things as important as that in here, Jaeger."

"We can't thank you enough for keeping this book safe, sir," Mikasa bowed. Eren followed her thereafter. "We'll always be grateful for-"

"No, I don't need thanks, Ackerman," Keith said, holding up a hand. "I only did what is right. Besides, he... no, you guys need it more than I do. Now go on, you two, go home and take it back to him. As a favor from me."

"Yes, sir!"

They adopted the salute again and hurriedly walked out the door. Keith, on the other hand, turned his chair towards the window behind it and watched as the two rode off back to town on their horses with a small smile on his weathered face. He had never seen children like that in years. He always knew he did the right thing. He always was proud of them. He knows they wouldn't do the same mistake that he did way back then.

* * *

><p><em>I stood at the front gates that day, hand in hand with my grandfather. There was a lot of people gathered there; amounting to an estimated hundred thousand, who were commoners like us, along with their parents, wives, husbands and children. There were also people in green capes with a winged crest on horseback.<em>

_Being only a nine-year old child, I was bewildered to see such a mass of people gathered at the gates of the outer wall, and proceeded to ask my grandfather what was going on. "Grandpa, what's happening?"_

_"Its a campaign launched by the Government, son," he said, holding on to my hand tighter. "At least that is what I heard."_

_"But why did you have to come? Wouldn't those men do it?" I pointed at the men on horseback. He knelt down to me._

_"I don't know, son, and you wouldn't yet understand," he put a hand over my shoulder. "But they said this is all for the good of Mankind, and we have been chosen to be part of it. There's nothing to worry about."_

_It was then that we heard the gates open to the world outside. One of the men in green raised his sword and said at the top of his lungs, "Alright everyone, begin to form your ranks! We'll be leaving in a while!"_

_Grandpa gave me a hug. "I'll be leaving you for now, son."_

_"But Grandpa!" I held on to him. He smiled, tearing off his favorite straw hat from his head and put it on mine._

_"You're old enough to take care of yourself and the house now, son. I trust you'll be just fine until I get back...," Grandpa told me reassuringly as he stood up and started to walk away into the line of people around the gate front. "Stay safe, son. I love you."_

_I watched silently as my grandfather turned around to give me one last smile before they headed out, being herded like a flock of sheep into the open by the men in green, clutching my Grandfather's hat tight in my hands. After their journey I headed home and spent each day gazing out the windows, hoping I would one day see my grandfather walking toward me. __But days passed, then weeks and months, and he never came back._

_Alone in the house I stuck to my grandfather's words before he left and took care of our place. _

_And that was then that __I had stumbled into my grandfather's room weeks later as I cleaned out the house. Cracking open the door, I looked around the room carefully, and noticed the leather book sitting atop the dresser. There was something sticking out from under its heavy cover. __I walked up to it, standing on my tiptoes just to reach it and heaved as I slowly pulled the book off the top of the dresser. Sitting down heavily on the bed I placed the book on my lap and opened it to see a quill and a small piece of folded parchment where my name was written._

_It was a letter from my grandfather, stating his wish to me. I read it sullenly as I turned to the window. I knelt before it gazing into a certain bright star in the sky, clasping my hands together and reciting quietly:_

_"Star light, star bright_

_I wish I may, I wish I might_

_Have this wish I wish tonight._

_Please send me here_

_The ones I endear_

_For just one more night_

_To hug them tight."_

* * *

><p>I knew back then it was just some poem and believed wishes never come true, but with the person I loved the most gone, there was nothing else I could do but honor their last wishes, whatever it may be.<p>

Brother and sister headed together into their best buddy's room later that night to surprise him. Though after climbing up a flight of stairs they found him outside of his room, peering out a window in the corner with his face on his hands. They walked up to him quietly.

"Hey, buddy," Eren called. The other boy turned around to his friends who were both smiling. "I'm sorry it took so long, but here..."

He presented the package wrapped in red cloth to his blond friend who was frozen to the spot he stood on in excitement and surprise. "This is yours, right?"

"Eren, why?" He took it, slowly unwrapped it, and hugged the object tight into his chest. Tears had started to pool on the corners of his eyes, he couldn't even distinguish if it was of happiness or the heartache from believing to have had it lost forever. "Why do you guys do this? Why do you guys do a lot for a loser like me? I couldn't even do anything like this for you two.."

Mikasa stood beside him, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. "Its because you're more to us than what you think of yourself."

"Dude, we'd never even be here if it wasn't for you," Eren said as he joined them. He was puzzled. What were they talking about?

"What do you mean? I... I never..."

"We wouldn't be joining the military in the first place if it wasn't for you... and the book."

"You were never a loser for us, man. You're a guardian. You were this one person who always reminds me of my dream to go outside the walls. You showed it me with that book six years ago, remember?"

"But Eren, Mikasa... I-," he was cut off when all of a sudden his friends took him together in a tight embrace. He buried his face into Eren's shoulder, wetting his shirt in tears. The other boy smiled and put his head closer to him. They fell on their knees to the floor. "Thank you so much..."

"No, dude," he lifted his face from the other boy's shoulder, looking straight into his ocean-hued eyes. Eren smiled. "Thank you."

He felt deep within his heart well calming warmth as he sat still underneath the welcoming arms of his faithful friends. A new wave of hope washed over his soul, and he felt more alive than ever before. He felt as if that moment his whole family had come back together and held him in an embrace.

* * *

><p><em>I had looked out the window that night under the cover of darkness, smiling as I stared straight at the bright star, and holding my grandfather's book in my arms. It still held his last letter within its pages. I never expected anything from that wish I made, but now I stand corrected. Grandpa really does know a lot and he has entrusted them to me through the most precious possession I inherited from him.<em>

_"Thank you, Grandpa. I love you."_

* * *

><p>There's so much more to life than what you're feeling now<br>And someday you'll look back on all these days  
>And all this pain is gonna be invisible<br>It'll be invisible


	6. VI: The Reason

**A/N:** I'm sorry its taken really long to finish this, but here it is, and it did not disappoint. Some of the scenarios and dialogue in the story are in accord to the anime and but edited a little bit for dramatic purposes. This is dedicated to a certain former classmate, friend and fellow AoT fan (Thank you, guy, for your support) and is themed with Staind's "Zoe Jane".  
>As always, thanks for the reads and there is also still more to come. Please leave reviews if you like.<p>

* * *

><p>She was once just a normal little girl. She smiled, she laughed and she talked like how normal little girls would. She had a beautiful, quaint home atop a mountain on the countryside where she lived with her mother and father. She had no friends, for there were no nearby houses, but she was happy just being with the two of them.<br>Everyday, the little girl would sit down in front of their table by the window with her parents. She would watch her father carve little statues from pieces and splinters of wood he picked up from his hunt in the neighboring forest and her mother sew beautiful patterns on their quilts and handkerchiefs. Her mother had taught her how to do it and now she sat beside her doing away with needles and yarn in her hands.  
>"Look, Mama," she held up the little piece of cloth she had finished embroidering with a beautiful pattern in red thread, presenting it to her mother. "I did it!"<br>"Oh, my," her mother said, taking the cloth and gazing at it for a while. "Well done, dear. It's beautiful!"  
>"Can I see it?" Her father put down the carving knife and wood from his hands. He took the cloth from his wife and looked at it, holding it high. "Wow, it really is beautiful. It's almost alike to your mother's masterpieces!"<br>"Really?" Her father grinned bright as he nodded to her. The little girl jumped up and down in her happiness. "Thank you!"  
>"You've done great today, dear," her mother then turned to face her, patting her slowly on her shoulder. "You know, this style of embroidery has been passed down for generations in our family. You will have to teach this to your kids in the future, too, dear."<br>"So how do I get kids, Mama?" Her mother chuckled lightly.  
>"Oh, you should be asking your Papa about that...," the man sitting beyond them suddenly looked up with a look of utter surprise, and in the process dropped his tools on the tabletop.<br>"Papa, how do I get kids?" Her old man shyly scratched his head. "Please tell me!"  
>"U-um... I'm not really sure myself, dear," he laughed. "M-maybe we should just ask Dr. Jaeger about that later when he arrives..."<br>It was then that the three heard knocks on their door.  
>"Well what do you know! Dr. Jaeger's already here," her father stood up from the chair he sat on, smiling as he walked toward the door. "I'll go get the door."<p>

* * *

><p><em>"It was on that day that I have seen the true image of the world. It was on that day I realized my hate on it and to all that resides in it. And it was on that day I felt the greatest pain I could ever feel. But it was on this same day I had found the reason to live and fight to survive in the world where darkness and every evil known prevails. The reason to wake from a long sleep and stand up stronger than ever and the reason to believe in the power of hope to make a change in this wretched world."<em>

* * *

><p>"I'm going to introduce you to his daughter," Dr. Jaeger said as he walked hand in hand with his nine-year-old son toward the lone log house in the distance. "She's the same age as you are."<br>"Oh," his son nodded as they approached the doorframe, standing close by as his father set his satchel down on the ground and knocked.  
>"Yes. There aren't any other kids in this place, son. So try to make friends with her, okay?" The boy just looked down.<br>"Well... depends on her..." Dr. Jaeger sighed.  
>"You know... that attitude is exactly why you only have one friend, son. Just try to at least be a little sociable this time."<br>The boy stayed quiet. He just stood still while his father turned to the door.  
>"Mr. Ackerman! This is Dr. Jaeger," he knocked once again, this time with a call. They waited but there was no response."Hm. Maybe they are not home...?"<br>Dr. Jaeger walked to the left side of the house, to a window and peered through it, but it was very foggy. He tried wiping it off but to his dismay, it remained the same. He walked back to his son at the door.  
>"Did you see anything?" The boy lowered the scarf he wore down to his chin as he asked his father who had suddenly on his face a serious expression.<br>"No, the window's all fogged up and it's quite dark inside," he tried turning the brass handle on the door. It didn't budge even an inch. "The door seems to even be locked from the inside..."  
>"Mr. Ackerman! Please open the door if you're there!" Dr. Jaeger felt his heart race as the moments passed without them hearing a single response. The door was locked and it was too dark inside the house. The man suddenly thought of something. Hurriedly he rummaged around his satchel and pulled out a small black leather case he opened to a scalpel. The boy stepped away from his father.<br>"Dad, w-what are you-?" The boy watched, confused, as his father carefully picked the keyhole on the door with the scalpel.  
>Dr. Jaeger said nothing, as he continued poking through the lock. After a while he heard a small click, taking the scalpel out and then holding the handle. He cracked the door open only slightly. He froze and his eyes widened at the sight he found inside.<br>"Dad! Dad! What's wrong?!" The boy cried, looking up to his father as he stepped inside. The boy followed behind him. Shock had written itself all over the young one's face.  
>The wind seemed to bite back the incoming breeze. He felt as if time itself had also stopped on its tracks. His ocean eyes gazed wide and clear at the trails of fresh red blood spattered on the floors and walls of the dark little shack. He turned to see the corpse of a man sitting under the windowsill with a deep wound in his chest and a woman laying on the wooden floor with her face down, her long flowing black hair floating in the pool of her own blood.<br>The little boy's own blood ran cold, and shivers traced down his spine. He wanted to turn away that moment, but could not, feeling both anger and confusion boiling deep within his heart.  
>"This is not good...", Dr. Jaeger said, kneeling beside the woman's corpse, feeling it was still a little warm. "They've been attacked not long ago... Son, have you seen a girl around? Have you seen her?"<br>"No...," the boy answered with a low, cracking voice, he gulped as his eyes still trained on the dead, and in a moment later he turned away from where he stood at the door. "I... didn't see anyone around..."  
>The doctor heard his son's footsteps moving away and turned. "Where are you going?"<br>"I'm going to find her, Dad," his son replied, about to start off on his way when Dr. Jaeger stood up and pulled him sharply by the shoulder. "Dad, please! Let me go!"  
>"No. You're not going to find her," he said firmly, keeping the boy looking straight at him. "You're going back down the mountain and wait for me there while I go get the Police."<br>"But-"  
>"Stop with the buts, son," he sighed. "I know what you want to do, but this is serious and even for this once, just listen to me... okay?"<br>The boy nodded without a word and set off down the dirt road to the nearby forest - the only way into this place in the mountain - still dazed, the image of the bloody scene replaying in his head, when it suddenly zoned out and was left with only a single thought.

* * *

><p><em>"It was on that day that I have given up on myself and my life, laying down cold and broken on that place's wooden floor. My whole body ached, I could not move. I could not hear anything but the sound of my mother's faint screams echoing in my ears repeatedly. My mind swarmed with only the thought and memories of my parents as I stared blankly on the drab, cobweb-ridden ceiling of this unfamiliar place. I could do nothing less than weep out the pain I feel from within my heart and there was nothing else I wished on that very moment but to die."<em>

* * *

><p>"Dr. Jaeger, we've been expecting-" Her father opened the door to find a knife suddenly stuck on his stomach. The man raised his head, meeting the eyes of his assailant as the knife was pulled back out of him. He fell down by the window.<br>The girl and her mother were shocked, their eyes both wide and fixated at the person standing at the doorframe.  
>"Pardon us...," the person said, still holding the knife in his hand. He stepped into the door with another one that held an axe.<br>"Take it easy," he said, waving the axe into the air threateningly. "Unless you want me to split your head open with this."  
>The girl's mother shook at the sight of the man standing by their house's door, and very quietly, slowly, reached out for the pair of scissors on the tabletop. Once she took it, she screamed, running toward the man holding an axe, with the scissors in her hands. The man held her arms and pulling it away from him.<br>"Run!" She told her daughter, who stood at the back of the table, shaking like mad, looking at the corpse of her father sitting on the floor under the window and toward her mother trying to fight off a man with a weapon. "Hurry up! Run!"  
>And it was then that the sharp piercing sound of blade hitting flesh echoed in the little girl's ears, sending her eyes towards the direction of her mother, screaming out before she fell dead on the floor. Blood painted the quaint house's wooden floorboards as she hit the ground, and the girl felt chillls run down her spine. Fear bursted into her veins. She felt herself unable to move. "M-Mama..."<br>"What the- what are you doing," the first man yelled to the other. "I told you to kill only the father!"  
>"But she-"<br>"Shut up! Stop with the excuses! Just grab the kid!"  
>"Don't make this get any harder, kid. Or else," the man said, stepping over her mother and then standing in front of her and grabbed her blouse's front. He raised his right arm, clenching his hand into a fist. "This is what you get!"<p>

* * *

><p><em>"I felt myself being swallowed into infinite darkness.<em>  
><em>I opened my eyes to see I was in the middle of a dark hallway, alone. It felt very cold. Emptiness stretched out all over the place. Wherever I turn I see nothing but darkness. I was scared.<em>  
><em>"Mama! Papa!" I called, but there was no response. I pulled my arms over my chest, taking a reluctant step forward. My eyes started to well up with tears as I continued treading down the pitch-black path. "Mama, Papa... Help me..."<em>  
><em>Then as I went on aimlessly into the dark, I saw a faint light. I looked up but it ended only in darkness still. I walked up under it. There, I felt I was safe from the dark, but I still felt cold, alone and incomplete."<em>

* * *

><p>Voices echoed through the four walls of a cabin in the middle of the mountain beneath the cover of leaves and fog. The heavy rain dripping down its glass windows as the night grew darker and colder.<br>"Hey, are you really sure she'll sell?" A man stood from the far left side of the cabin, staring at another who sat by the window on a chair as he spoke. "I mean, we even had to kill her parents and all..."  
>"Of course she will. Just take a look at her face," the other replied, crossing his arms as his friend paced through and turned a little girl's body over and gazing at her face. Her hands were bound with a piece of rope behind her, she had bruises on her lower jaw, her knees had been scraped and her clothes bore dirt stains like it had been dragged on the ground.<br>"Well, she's fine," he said, looking over to the other man. "But she's just a kid, and she's not even my thing."  
>"I don't care if she 's your thing or not," the man retorted. "I heard she's an Oriental, a descendant of those people who fled into the walls from that place called the Orient years ago."<br>"So?"  
>"Those others like her have all died out, you know. I'm sure she'll fetch us a good price when we auction her off at the underground market in the capital."<br>"Her father didn't look Oriental, though," the other man said, taking a second look at the little girl. "She's not pure-blooded!"  
>"Exactly!" The other one rose up from his chair, stamping his foot hard on the floor. "Because it's her mother who was the one really worth something! Why did you even have to freak out and kill her?!"<br>"I-I didn't have a choice! She resisted!"  
>"Really? That's your excuse?!"<br>The two men started fighting among themselves, while the girl stayed motionlessly on the floor, gazing at the dusty surface of the windows as the heavy rain outside spattered on it.  
>"Mama...," she muttered silently, her steely grey eyes welling up slowly with tears. "Help me..."<p>

* * *

><p><em>"I woke up to the voices of the men arguing, noticing I was lying on the floor. I could see them, I could hear them, but I was too far gone to pay them mind. All that came into my head is the memory of the last moment of my happiness and my normal life.<em>  
><em>All I could think of is my home: the comforting warmth and smell of the crackling fireplace as I lay beside it with my parents reading me a bedtime story, and the protection and safety it offers me from the elements outside as drift off to sleep under its roof... and now, it's gone forever. I don't know if I will ever survive... And if I do, I don't know if I will ever find another, not that I expect the world to give me so.<em>  
><em>I just want to return to a home... to return into its safety and warmth... to lie on a bed as it lulls me into a peaceful slumber."<em>

* * *

><p>The boy found his way to the far edge of the forest, in the yard of an abandoned, rundown cabin. He stood outside the cabin's door, just under its roof to keep from the downpour. He wiped off the raindrops from his face and turned towards the door with one hand behind his back, pushing it open slowly whilst peeking through the crack it made.<br>Inside, the sound of the door creaking echoed. But it wasn't just the door creaking open that had surprised them, it was the voice of a boy. "U-um... excuse me..."  
>The men stopped their conversation and turned their heads towards the door. One of the two walked up to the door and opened it wide "Hey, what are you doing here, kid?" He yelled out. "How'd you find this place?!"<br>"I-I... got lost in the forest," the boy replied. "Then I... found this cabin..."  
>The man turned to his companion, asking him what to do without words, and received a wave of his hand. He nodded, turning to the boy again.<br>"Now that's not good. You're just a kid," he said, kneeling down, and patting the boy's head. "You shouldn't come into the forest alone. You know there are lots of scary wolves in here... but don't worry. You can come with us and-"  
>Then there was the sudden sound of metal piercing wet flesh, followed by the boy's voice. "Thank you, mister. I get it now..."<br>He slid the man's arm away from his head and watched silently as he fell to the ground with a thud. He walked slowly into the cabin, going straight for a small door.  
>"W-where do you think you're going, kid?!" The other man stood up from his seat, backing away from the boy, his eyes wide in fear. He watched as the boy slowly closed the room's door, peeking at the shaken man with one eye. The man ran off to one corner and picked up an axe, then through the small door, kicking it apart while waving the axe over his head.<br>The boy appeared, bolting towards the man, whose eyes suddenly widened in shock. The boy pushed him back out of the door and at the same time stabbed him on straight the gut with the knife he carried which was now attached to a broom. The man slammed on the floor with a loud thud. "Die, you filthy animal! Die! This... This is what you deserve!" The boy pulled off the knife from the end of the broom, then rammed it repeatedly into the man's chest with all his might. The man flailed his arms around but he failed to push the boy off of him as his strength slowly left him, his blood pooling underneath his body.  
>Meanwhile, the girl had come back to her senses, her eyes suddenly widening in utter shock, and feeling her heart race at what she witnessed: a boy stabbing a man twice his size on the chest with a knife. She stared for a moment, raising her head to see him wiping his face off of blood with the sleeve of his shirt and stand up from the man's body once he stopped moving. "It's alright now. Don't worry..." he said.<br>Later on he went towards the girl's side, noticing her hands were bound.  
>"You.. you must be Mr. Ackerman's daughter," he said, helping the girl sit up. He took his knife and cut carefully into the ropes on the girl's hands. "I'm Dr. Jaeger's son. I think you've met him a few times now. He was going to visit your house for a check-up, so I came along... and that's when we found them..."<br>"There were three...," the girl quietly muttered, and the boy stopped. He seemed to have not heard her quite well.  
>"What?" He asked, freeing her hands from the ropes then setting the knife beside him on the floor.<br>"T-there were... three..."

* * *

><p><em>"It was on that day I had been denied the life I deserved, the only people I ever loved taken away and I had been pushed off into this empty space, had my heart stripped of everything it ever contained in the process, leaving me like a discarded shell in the middle of this unfathomable darkness alone and cold.<em>  
><em>Everything was supposed to end right there. Everything was supposed to just fade away that moment. But on that day's blinding darkness, a faint light shone towards me and I found something I had never even expected. I was lifted back into the light."<em>

* * *

><p>The door behind the two children suddenly opened and another man stepped in. They both stared inyo each other's eyes for a second and on impulse the boy reached for his knife on the floor but the man kicked him towards the other side of the room with a strong kick.<br>The boy clutched his stomach, wincing at the pain as the man walked toward him, gazing at the corpses of his two other companions. He stood in front of the boy, bending down and sharply grabbing a lock of his hair.  
>"Did you do this?!" He yelled, bringing his hands to the boy's neck and gripping it hard. The boy coughed, lifting his own hands to his assailant's.<br>"Fight!" The boy could barely breathe, but managed to speak out through the man's grasp on his neck. He turned his eyes to the still shocked girl on the floor. "Y-you have to... f-fight! Lose and you... die, Win and you s-survive!"  
>"What are you even thinking, you little brat?" He felt the man grasp his neck harder, and his breaths reduced to sharp gasps. The boy picked at the man's fingers desperately, while on the other hand, the girl trembled as she watched them, her eyes filling with tears once again.<br>"F-fight!" She heard the boy yell in between his gasps for air, seeing his eyes slowly closing. She felt fear run through her body. She did not know what to do. "Fight! Fight!"  
>It was then that she saw her savior's hand slowly dropping, his eyes lidded and almost closing that she grabbed the nearby knife, pointing its blade to the man's back. But she was too afraid to move.<br>"No... I... I can't do it!" Her hands, as her whole body did, shook so hard it prevented her from moving even one step. But she had to; the boy was almost choking to death! This made her tremble even more, until she heard her yell it again.  
>"Fight!" The word rang in her ears repeatedly. Hearing it made her zone out, thinking back into the past when she had thought she had seen this very scene before. She saw them all again in a vision in her eyes: she had seen a mantis preying on a butterfly as she peeked into the bushes while she and her mother picked berries; and the sight of her father coming home from his hunt in the forest with a plump goose in his hand.<br>She was then taken back to reality with a realization, giving her a sudden jolt of courage. And then she gripped the knife hard, charged through and stabbed the man with all her might, giving him no chance at all to even turn around.  
>Later that night, the doctor arrived at the scene to find the two children sitting at the front door as cadets of the Military Police scanned the cabin. He walked towards his son, throwing his arms around his small frame.<br>"Oh, son," he sighed, pulling away from the boy. "I told you to wait at the base of the mountain, didn't I? Do you have any idea what you have done?"  
>"I put down some dangerous beasts! They were just animals in human clothing!" He answered his father. "And just look how long it took the Police to get here! They would have gotten away long ago! You wouldn't have made it in time!"<br>"Even if that were true," Dr. Jaeger said firmly. "You just got lucky, son! I'm trying to tell you off for not considering your own safety!"  
>"But I... I wanted to save her as soon as I could," the boy tearfully said, as his father stood up and turned to the girl standing by.<br>"Do you remember me?" He asked her. The girl nodded weakly. "I met you many times when you were a child."  
>"Dr. Jaeger," she replied quietly, not looking away from the bright light of the fire in front of her. "Where do I go from here...?"<br>The other two stayed standing a foot away from her, dumbstruck as she continued. "I'm cold... and I... don't have a home anymore..."  
>After hearing her, the boy blinked, and walked up towards the girl, all the while pulling the dark red scarf he wore off his neck. He stopped in front of the girl and wrapped the warm fabric nonchalantly over her. The little girl on the other hand, was surprised, she blinked a few times before focusing into the boy in front of her.<br>"Here, you can have this," said he, throwing the scarf over her head. "It's warm, isn't it?"  
>She looked at the red fabric sullenly, lifting her hand timidly to caress its soft surface. A smile hidden under the scarf crept into her lips. "Yes, it is warm..."<br>Dr. Jaeger watched the children, smiling as he did so, then walked up toward them. He put his arm over his son's shoulder. "Mikasa," he called, drawing closer to the two. "You can make your home with us. You've experienced too much pain. You need to rest."  
>Mikasa looked on to the boy then to Dr. Jaeger and into the crackling flames on the ground. She seemed to have not heard the doctor's words. But not until the boy moved and reached for her wrist.<br>"Come on," said the boy, looking at her with his brows furrowed. "Let's go home... to our home."  
>When she heard him say these words, she was surprised and felt tears fall from her eyes. She felt both joy and sadness at their kindness; her face flashed all the pain she had but deep inside she was smiling in joy.<br>The little girl silently thanked the heavens and took a little step towards the boy and the doctor, who knelt down and buried her in a warm embrace. They then stood and traversed down the mountain's dirt path hand in hand. And as they sat in the carriage bound for her new home in town, the little girl kept her eyes on the boy. She held the scarf tight in her little hand as she looked on, and made herself a promise.

* * *

><p>She was once just a normal little girl but now she has changed so much. Everything had been taken away from her, the sinews of her once hopeful little heart had been torn to shreds along with her emotions. She forgot how to smile, how to laugh and to talk like a normal girl of her age. She now lives a harsh life in this wasteland where there is only the sound of cannon fire, the pained, dying screams of the unfortunate, and the blood and bodies of the fallen scattered on the cobblestone streets. She now holds tight in her hands a pair of blades as she fought alongside all those others who have seen hell like she did in a seemingly unending war against enemies they knew little of.<br>Everyday the girl would wake up to the call of her comrades for battle at the crack of dawn, joining them in ranks above the city skyline. She would watch with dead, smoky grey eyes as the city burn and crumble to dust, and sometimes as her own companions lose their lives in the hands of their monstruous enemies. She would ride the winds without a single hint of fear or nervousness in her fair, beautiful face whenever she stepped out into the battlefield, where she would fight like nobody ever did, drowning out with it all her heart's pain.  
>She was now a friend to utter silence. She laughed not, she would barely smiled and she would talk only sometimes. On other instances she would only sit by herself, lost in thought and daydreams, gazing out into the emptiness of the cerulean sky.<br>All those memories still hurt, but she was free now from the constricting grip of despair. She was not afraid of anything anymore. She was not weak anymore, and most of all, she had found hope that made her have a dream and a reason to live again.

* * *

><p><em>"I believe that the world is filled with nothing but cruelty and mercilessness - a place where only the strong survive. I believe it will never change nor will it never be changed by anybody or anything. But it seemed I was wrong.<em>  
><em>For it is the world itself that showed me what it is and what it could still become despite the evil looming over it. It has shown me that it was still something... beautiful. And with that realization, I learned that no matter how cold it may be, it will always stay as the place where a vagabond like me found a home once again, along with a living reason to move on, survive and to leave my past to oblivion.<em>  
><em>I am now content with my life, even if it is harsh and filled with greater struggle, for as long as the reason lives, so long as his gift remains with me, I will stay strong, I will fight and I can do anything!"<em>

* * *

><p><strong>A TRIBUTE TO MANKIND'S SECOND GREATEST SOLDIER. LIVE STRONG, FIGHT HARD.<strong>


End file.
